DoDAF Viewpoints and Models
Operational Viewpoint
OV-1: High Level Operational Concept Graphic
The OV-1 describes a mission, class of mission, or scenario. It shows the main operational concepts and interesting or unique aspects of operations. It describes the interactions between the subject architecture and its environment, and between the architecture and external systems. The OV-1 is the pictorial representation of the written content of the AV-1 Overview and Summary Information. Graphics alone are not sufficient for capturing the necessary architectural data.
The OV-1 provides a graphical depiction of what the architecture is about and an idea of the players and operations involved. An OV-1 can be used to orient and focus detailed discussions. Its main use is to aid human communication, and it is intended for presentation to high-level decision-makers.
The intended usage of the OV-1 includes:
- Putting an operational situation or scenario into context.
- Providing a tool for discussion and presentation; for example, aids industry engagement in acquisition.
- Providing an aggregate illustration of the details within the published high-level organization of more detailed information in published architectures.
Detailed Description:
Each Operational Viewpoint relates to a specific point within the Enterprise's timeline. The OV-1 describes a mission, class of mission, or scenario. The purpose of OV-1 is to provide a quick, high-level description of what the architecture is supposed to do, and how it is supposed to do it. An OV-1 can be used to orient and focus detailed discussions. Its main utility is as a facilitator of human communication, and it is intended for presentation to high-level decision-makers. An OV-1 identifies the mission/scope covered in the Architectural Description. OV-1 conveys, in simple terms, what the Architectural Description is about and an idea of the players and operations involved.
The content of an OV-1 depends on the scope and intent of the Architectural Description, but in general it describes the business activities or missions, high-level operations, organizations, and geographical distribution of assets. The model frames the operational concept (what happens, who does what, in what order, to accomplish what goal) and highlight interactions to the environment and other external systems. However, the content is at an executive summary-level as other models allow for more detailed definition of interactions and sequencing.
It may highlight the key Operational concepts and interesting or unique aspects of the concepts of operations. It provides a description of the interactions between the Architectural Description and its environment, and between the Architectural Description and external systems. A textual description accompanying the graphic is crucial. Graphics alone are not sufficient for capturing the necessary architectural data.
The OV-1 consists of a graphical executive summary for a given Architectural Description with accompanying text.
During the course of developing an Architectural Description, several versions of an OV-1 may be produced. An initial version may be produced to focus the effort and illustrate its scope. After other models within the Architectural Description's scope have been developed and verified, another version of the OV-1 may be produced to reflect adjustments to the scope and other Architectural Description details that may have been identified as a result of the architecture development. After the Architectural Description has been used for its intended purpose and the appropriate analysis has been completed, yet another version may be produced to summarize these findings to present them to high-level decision-makers. In other cases, OV-1 is the last model to be developed, as it conveys summary information about the whole Architectural Description for a given scenario.
The OV-1 is useful in establishing the context for a suite of related operational models. This context may be in terms of phase, a time period, a mission and/or a location. In particular, this provides a container for the spatial-temporally constrained performance parameters (measures).
To describe this, the operational performance measures for desert warfare in Phase 1 may be different to those in Phase 2. The measures for jungle warfare in Phase 2 may be different to those for desert warfare in Phase 2.
The context may also explicitly involve a Mission. When the subject of the Architectural Description is a business capability rather than a battlespace capability, then some adjustment is needed in the use of terminology. However, the idea of having a high-level (Business) operational concept still makes sense and the graphical representation in OV-1 adds value to the more structured models that may be created.
OV-1 is the most general of the architectural models and the most flexible in format. However, an OV-1 usually consists of one or more graphics (or possibly a video-clip), as needed, as well as explanatory text.
OV-1: High-Level Operational Concept Graphic
OV-2: Operational Resource Flow Description
OV-3: Operational Resource Flow Matrix
OV-4: Organizational Relationships Chart
OV-5a: Operational Activity Decomposition Tree
OV-5b: Operational Activity Model
OV-6a, 6b, 6c: Introduction
OV-6a: Operational Rules Model
OV-6b: State Transition Description
OV-6c: Event-Trace Description